One End, Which Is Always Present
by Nokomiss
Summary: There was precedence. StephBabs.


Title: One End, Which Is Always Present

Summary: There was precedence.

Characters: Robin(Steph)/Batgirl(Babs)

Setting: Both during the brief time Steph was Robin and during Batgirl Year 1

Word count: 4653

Rating: PG-13

AN: For Rainpuddle13, my lovely beta, who requested Robin/Batgirl. When asked for further clarification, she picked Steph/Babs. Title taken from T.S. Eliot's "Burnt Norton," from the line, "What might have been and what has been / Point to one end, which is always present."

* * *

Stephanie can't help but think that maybe she ought to have taken off in the other direction when the freak with the big zapper ranting about time had shown up, because while she was undisputedly still in Gotham, she definitely wasn't in the_ right_ Gotham.

She groaned, sitting up and making a vain attempt to convince her head to stop throbbing through massage. She stood and tried to remember exactly what had happened. Oracle- for once behaving as though Steph were competent enough to handle a nutcase on her own - had sent her after a freak with what had apparently been a time traveling ray gun. Steph had thought she knew ridiculous, having grown up around someone who thought 'The Cluemaster' was an appropriate moniker for a career criminal, but this took absurd to an entirely new level.

The skyline was different here, but not precisely unfamiliar. She hadn't realized how accustomed she was to post-quake Gotham, because this skyline - the old skyline - seemed disconcertingly strange.

She was suddenly struck by a burst of gratitude that she'd come across the time maniac on the roof of a Wayne-owned building that was still standing in the same spot it had been... whenever this was. It had probably been deliberate, granted, given that the maniac had seemed to intend to land in this time himself and probably hadn't fancied the idea of being a street pizza any more than Steph herself.

She perched cautiously on the edge of the building. She didn't seem _too _wobbly after her blackout, but had to be careful because she didn't exactly have backup here. Sure, she'd told Batman she was ready to fly solo but hadn't meant quite to this extreme.

There was no sight of Time Commander. She had no clue how long she had been unconscious, so she couldn't even hazard a guess as to how far he might have gotten.

She tried to think like a detective- remember exactly what he had said before they'd gone back in time, figure out what his plan was. He'd said something about a diamond -

Steph leaned further over the edge as something caught her eye. Was that motorcyclist wearing a cape?

The bike screeched to a halt and the driver, wearing a cowl, looked up at Steph. Crap, she thought, and stepped away and crouched down enough that she was out of sight.

A grating noise on the east side of the building told her that whichever cape had spotted her was coming up the fire escape. She glanced around. No place to hide, and no way to leave the roof unseen. She wasn't quite up to a chase through the skies of Gotham, so she instead prepared to take on whoever it was here.

The cape swung onto the roof.

She recognized the grey outfit that stretched tight over an athletic form, the yellow bat stretching across the girl's breasts, and even the red hair that tumbled out of her cowl. She stood stock-still as Batgirl approached, determined to keep her shock to herself as she wondered how to avoid breaking the future.

"What are you doing up here?" Batgirl said sternly as she approached, hypnotizing hips swaying, then stopped as she took in what Steph was wearing.

Steph knew she had to keep acting as though it were normal to see Barbara Gordon dressed as Batgirl and walking around as though it were an everyday occurrence.

Batgirl, on the other hand, had no such qualms about acting as though a blonde in a Robin suit were an everyday occurrence. "Who do you think you are?"

Steph considered bolting, because she'd watched enough sci-fi movies with Tim to know that interfering with the past was never a good thing. If she ever got back home, it could be filled with giant cockroaches or something because she'd let Batgirl know that there would be other Robins.

Instead, she stood there with her mouth hanging open like an idiot, trying to figure out the best lie.

Batgirl stood there, eyes narrowed dangerously as she surveyed Steph in a way Steph knew meant she was taking stock of possible weapons and escape routes.

Steph was halfway through trying to remember every time-travel incident she'd seen in movies and on TV and trying to pick the most successful when she realized that she was Robin now, and Robin wouldn't try to steal dialogue from an episode of Wendy the Werewolf Stalker.

She had to stop acting like the understudy. Because she's Robin, damn it, not just a little girl playing dress-up. Even if there's no way Batgirl would know that, she should still act that way. Take control of the situation.

"Have you heard reports of the Time Commander anywhere in the city? It would have been within the past two hours." There's no way she was out any longer than that. For one thing, her mouth barely feels fuzzy at all.

"I repeat, who the hell do you think you are?" Batgirl snapped, hand disappearing under her cape to reach for a batarang.

Steph glanced down at her brightly colored costume, which she was still getting used to after years in eggplant, and said, "What does it look like?"

"Just because you're masquerading as Robin--" Batgirl began, hand on her hip and leaning forward, drawing Steph's attention briefly to her yellow bat.

"I am Robin," Steph said. "Now, have you seen Time Commander or not? I really shouldn't be here."

"Time--" Batgirl said, then shook her head. "Are you implying that you're from the_ future_?"

"Well, I'm sure as hell not from the past," Steph said. "So I take it that's a 'no'?"

Instead of answering, Batgirl flung a batarang at Steph's head.

_Please, please let this work_, Steph thought as she pulled her gauntlet in front of her face and twisted it at the last moment just like Batman had shown her. The batarang deflected somewhat haphazardly to the left, and Steph worked at keeping her expression cool and confident, but felt probably she just looked as pissed off and tired as she felt.

"What, do you want me to do the secret handshake with you to prove the truth?" Steph snapped.

"Ah-ha!" Batgirl said. "There is no secret handshake!"

Steph rolled her eyes. "Not yet, anyway."

Batgirl looked vaguely disconcerted. "Fine. If you are who you say you are... tell me something only one of us would know."

Why did it always come down to secrets? Steph thought frantically for something she knew that would be relevant now. "Alfred makes awesome cookies," she said decisively. Surely that had to still be true.

From the way Batgirl's jaw dropped slightly before returning to her normal expression, she must have picked the right thing.

"We should go somewhere private," Batgirl said finally. "Keep you away from the boys."

Steph nodded. Letting Batman see her would be bad.

"I know just the place," Batgirl said. She hopped onto the ledge and said, "Follow me."

She fumbled with her grappling gun as she pulled it out. Steph tried and failed to hide her surprise.

"What?" Batgirl snapped, green eyes flashing.

"Um, are you sure you know how to work that?" Steph asked. "I only ask because Batman would get pretty pissed with me if I let you plummet to a messy death."

"I know what I'm doing!" Batgirl said in a defensive tone Steph knew all too well.

"Okay," Steph replied, holding her hands wide. "Let's just go."

Batgirl didn't plummet to a messy death. Steph was glad, because she didn't particularly want to be responsible for irrevocably changing the future.

* * *

Steph couldn't quite help marveling at how smoothly Batgirl traversed the rooftops in her sexy-as-hell yellow boots. Her mind kept flashing to Oracle, sitting in her tower with her useless legs and her bitter smile, and for the first time really understood what Barbara Gordon had lost.

Batgirl turned and grinned. "What are you waiting for?"

Steph forced a matching grin on her face. "Just giving you a head start, that's all!"

Batgirl flew through the skies the same way Steph herself did- not nearly as gracefully as Nightwing, but nowhere near as economic as Tim. She did little twists and twirls in the air that if anything hindered the arc, but that Steph knew from experience were fun and sent shivers of delight through her body.

Steph could see how easily the smiles and laugher came to this Batgirl, as well as the playful sexiness. It was like seeing the last pieces put in a puzzle; Steph could finally see why Nightwing had fallen for her, and exactly how much she had changed -would change- to become Oracle.

Batgirl led her to a nondescript apartment, landing on the ledge with a little bounce that Steph appreciated more than she probably should have. She jimmied the window open, and motioned Steph inside.

"Your own safehouse," Steph said, looking around at the neutral furnishings. There wasn't a trace of personality in the room.

"Actually, I just keep track of furnished apartments that haven't been rented out yet," Batgirl said.

Steph was surprised that she would reveal her method so easily.

"Well, just so you know not to come looking for me here again," Batgirl said with a grin. "You might give some new tenant a shock."

Steph laughed, quietly, then finally asked what had been bothering her so much. "Why do you believe me? I could just be a kook with a convincing costume."

Batgirl shrugged, then said, "You're a honest person, Robin. I can tell. And you're bright and cheerful enough to keep Batman from being too grim. You fit the job, and I just... can tell you aren't lying about any of this." She shrugged again. "Weirder things have happened in this city."

Steph didn't know what to say, and it was all she could do to hold in the disbelieving babble that threatened to escape.

Batgirl seemed to sense that she was overwhelmed, and moved closer, holding open Steph's cape. Her fingertips brushed the side of Steph's breast as she did, but her smile remained coy. Batgirl looked her up and down before offering with a wink, "I wouldn't have thought that outfit could actually be hot."

"The pixie shoes killed the sexy," Steph replied, grateful for something easy to say. "Shame, really, considering who was in them."

The way Batgirl rolled her eyes as she laughed told Steph that she needed to not mention the original Robin unless she gave something big away. She flopped on the couch, propped her feet on the coffee table and said, "We should figure out where the guy with the time ray took off to."

Batgirl nodded. "Do you remember him mentioning anything before you ended up here?"

"Well, it happened kind of quick. I got to the rooftop, he was there, he babbled some about diamonds and me not foiling his plot, and then, wham, bam, thank you ma'am! I was here," Steph said. "Do you have a paper? We could see if any limited-time-offer diamonds are in town."

"We can get one," Batgirl said, going to the front door and peering out the peephole. "There we are!"

Steph joined Batgirl by the door as she cracked it open and stuck her head cautiously out. She darted across the hall and snagged a newspaper from the doormat, then hurried back into the apartment.

Steph was leaning against the wall giggling by the time Batgirl shut the door and looked back out to make sure her theft had been unseen.

"What? We have a newspaper now!" Batgirl said. "And I'm going to return it once we're done."

"That," Steph giggled, "was the absolute least stealthy newspaper stealing mission I've ever been part of."

"I didn't see you volunteering," Batgirl replied, kicking her gently on the side before plopping down on the floor next to Steph. She removed the paper from its plastic bag and pulling out the Arts and Entertainment section She quickly began scanning it, tongue stuck slightly out of the corner of her mouth.

Steph picked up the front page, knowing that she had no hope of keeping up with Batgirl's pace, and stared at the date. Out there in Gotham, probably in her bed dreaming, was a young Stephanie Brown whose father was likely in prison and whose mother was likely strung out on her pills. She could go visit her younger self, warn about the hardships to come. But... Then she wouldn't be who she was today. If she told her younger self, all she would be doing was erasing the pitiful hope she'd clung to all those years and replacing it with helplessness, because there was nothing that she could do to fix it.

She glanced over at Batgirl, engrossed in her reading, and knew for certain that she could no more tell her about her future tragedy than she could go tell her younger self what was in store for her. It would be too cruel.

"Ah-ha!" Batgirl said, jabbing a small article.

Steph kneeled behind her, leaning over her shoulder, skimming enough to realize that this was no doubt the reason she'd been shanghaied into the past. Extremely rare diamond, limited time in Gotham before being returned to its usual secure location, being delivered in the early hours of the morning. "Looks like our guy will strike at dawn," she said.

"What should we do until then?" Batgirl asked, leaning back to brush her shoulder against Steph's armored chest. A playful smirk danced on the edges of her mouth.

Steph leaned in close, lips almost brushing Batgirl's as she said, "I can think of a few things."

The kiss itself wasn't a surprise, but the intensity was. As their tongues entwined, Batgirl reached up and tangled her hand in Steph's hair, holding her close. Steph reached around and traced her thumb across the edge of the yellow bat branded across Batgirl's chest.

They broke apart, and stared at each other for a moment. Then Steph reached up and took off her domino mask and said, "Hi."

"Hi," Batgirl replied, a grin spreading across her face as she pushed back her cowl. "Come here often?"

"I hope so," Steph replied. She moved around so she was facing Batgirl, and leaned in for another kiss.

Really, she thought, there was no better way to kill time. Every touch sent tingles down her spine, even the half-felt caresses on heavily protected areas.

"Wait," she said, pushing Batgirl's exploring hand away from her utility belt. "I have to..." She quickly deactivated the electric charge on her suit, then began the tricky process of getting out of her costume. She grunted with frustration as the unclasping, tugging and shimmying seemed to take a thousand times longer as normally.

"You know," she panted, "there wouldn't be half as many rumors about Batman and Robin if everyone knew how damned difficult it is to get out of this suit."

Batgirl just giggled and began to smoothly slide out of her own outfit. From there, Steph couldn't really remember how they ended up in the bedroom, falling on the bare mattress of a queen-sized bed.

What she did remember was the feel of Babs' legs curling around her own, flexing and sliding up and down.

Laughter in between gasps and moans

Curled toes, and "Robin" spoken like a sigh.

Steph only just remembered to say, "Batgirl," when "Babs" was on the tip of her tongue.

* * *

Steph rolled over, still blurry from sleep, to see Babs, still naked, inspecting her utility belt. She laughed. "You're worse than T--" She remembered to cut herself off just in time.

Babs raised an eyebrow.

"You shouldn't be looking at that, you know," Steph offered. "Might change the future. I'd kind of like to go home to the same place as I left."

"I just was curious about some of the schematics - it looks like there have been a lot of technological advancements between now and whenever," Babs said, setting down the belt and giving it a wistful glance.

"Some," Steph said cautiously. "But we shouldn't talk about that." She grinned and winked at Babs. "I can, however, think of something we could do."

"I thought you were eager to get home," Babs said, rising and stretching. "We aren't exactly getting any closer to the gallery..."

Steph tried not to stare too much at Barbara's legs as she stretched, muscles working under the skin. It was simpler to pretend this was a stranger when there was something happening to distract her. But at the same time, this girl shared many of the same traits as Oracle. But also- Steph could see for the first time a hint that she herself could become so much more.

At one point, the almighty Oracle had also fumbled. Batgirl wasn't any better than Steph herself was at the vigilante gig.

"We have plenty of time," she said.

* * *

When Steph woke up for the second time, it was dawn. Light filled the room, and Barbara's red hair was brighter than ever. She giggled and began to kiss the other girl awake, playful after a night of exploration.

Steph marveled at how smooth and unmarked Batgirl's skin was. She had only the normal scars leftover from childhood, none of the battle scars that all Bats gained after any amount of time in the business.

It made the older girl seem strangely innocent. She resisted the urge to tell her to run away, fast as she could. To abandon this way of life while she still had a chance.

This girl's future was filled with suffering, and Steph wouldn't do a thing to avert it. She could save Barbara just by telling her to never open her door. Warn her. Just a few words, and this laughing, graceful girl could remain that way infinitely.

But then- what about all the people Oracle would save? Where would that leave Cass, and Huntress, and everyone else who followed after her? There was so much she didn't know, couldn't know, and it made her feel helpless.

Babs was awake now, green eyes trained on Steph as she rolled them over, leaving Barbara on top to mimic Steph's wake up kisses.

Steph saw Babs' wide eyes at her own scars, and suddenly felt ancient.

"It's dawn," she said more to cover her own awkwardness than anything. "We should get to the gallery."

"We should," Babs sighed, giving her another light kiss before climbing out of bed.

* * *

"Are we too late?" Steph whispered, watching the armored truck idle by the back entrance of the gallery. It was a typical setup, with armed guards standing around bored.

"I don't think we are," Babs replied. She gave her a look that Steph found startlingly familiar. "After all, I think the guards would be slightly more panicked if they'd just lost an irreplaceable diamond."

"Not if they didn't realize it yet," Steph muttered, and settled down on the ledge. "So, where's our boy? We could sneak down and take a look around, make sure we're not missing anything."

"Are you always this impatient?" Babs asked.

"Yes," Steph replied honestly. A few more minutes passed without any sign of Time Commander.

"Will we be friends?"

"What?" Steph said more out of reflex than anything. "I can't tell you that."

Babs shrugged. "It's just nice to see that eventually it isn't an all-boys club. I just thought we'd get along."

Steph thought about every time Oracle had scolded or discouraged her, and how blithely she had ignored her. She stayed silent.

A few minutes later, the guards no longer looked bored. Steph didn't really need to read lips to know what the flailing of arms and general panic meant, but Babs did. "They said the diamond's disappeared sometime in the past five minutes."

"So that means he either hasn't gotten far, or else he's disappeared into time," Steph translated.

Babs nodded, and slipped off their perch and headed towards the gallery.

"What are you doing? We know the diamond's gone. We need to find the Time Commander," Steph said. "Who knows what sort of havoc he's wreaking on the time line."

Babs snorted.

Steph paused, and thought about what she'd just said. "I don't know if I love or hate the fact that I get to say stuff like that seriously."

"These guys just get dumber and dumber," Babs said. "The first guy I ever went up against called himself 'Killer Moth'. But to answer your question - I'm looking for some clue to tell us which direction he's gone in."

"I could have guessed that," Steph grumbled as Batgirl inspected the window frames for disturbed dust or scuff marks. She had just knelt down to see if any of the garbage was actually a clue when Batgirl hissed, "There he is!" and took off around the corner, a flash of yellow against the early morning shadows.

"Ba--atgirl!" Steph called, racing after her, hoping she hadn't noticed the near slip on the name amidst all the nearly getting killed.

Batgirl had taken a running leap at Time Commander, catching him by surprise in the small of the back and sending him flying, a sparkling rock tumbling from his hand and landing beneath a rusty Buick.

He managed to propel himself into a wall, leaning against it heavily before turning and clocking Batgirl in the side. She stumbled and fell. Steph gasped and wondered, not for the first time, why the hell anyone dated anyone in the hero community when every punch their lovers took felt like this.

Time Commander was standing over Batgirl when she kicked upwards, catching him neatly in the jaw before he could react. He collapsed heavily on the pavement. Steph darted in, but Batgirl was already flipping him over and hog-tying him with her jumpline.

"There," she said, standing and brushing her hands off.

"He's unconscious?" Steph asked, dismayed.

"What's wrong with unconscious?" Batgirl asked.

"It's just that we need to take him back to the rooftop I originally came here on," Steph explained. "Because this area might have changed and I really don't want to appear in the middle of a hot dog kiosk."

Babs looked down at their defeated foe. "I guess waiting for him to wake up wouldn't be very practical. The building I found you on is only two blocks from here, we can drag him."

Steph looked at the villain, who hadn't seemed this hefty when he'd been standing pointing a time ray at them, and said, "You mean you don't know any nerve pinches or have any smelling salts on you?"

"Do you?" Batgirl shot back.

"Fine, fine, we'll drag him," Steph grumbled, grabbing the time-ray and slinging it across her back like a guitar. Batgirl snagged the diamond and returned it to the guards, who fawned over her, while Steph guarded their prisoner.

Forty minutes of grunting, cursing and grumbling later, they stood staring at the fire escape of their destination.

"I really doubt there'll be a hot dog kiosk here," Babs said hopefully.

"Yeah, but there could be homeless people. Do you want me to materialize in the middle of a hobo?"

Babs looked up the fire escape, down at Time Commander, then back at Steph. "We could use the elevator inside. There's no doorman."

"Okay, that sounds good," Steph said.

After checking to make sure the lobby was empty, they hauled Time Commander into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. Steph looked at Batgirl and grinned. She never got to do fun things like this with Tim.

The elevator dinged as it slowed to a stop on the fifth floor. The doors slid open. A man wearing a mechanic's coveralls stared into the elevator at Batgirl and Robin standing casually beside the hog-tied supervillain.

"I'll just wait," he said, eyes wide.

"Good idea," Steph said as she hit the door close button.

They reached the top floor without further interruption, and working together managed to get Time Commander to the roof without any major catastrophes.

They dumped him in the center, roughly where Steph thought they had arrived. She took the time-ray off her back and offered it to Batgirl. "You said you can probably figure out how to reverse it?"

There are lots of reasons for her to go back to her time, she reminded herself. Ranging from Cass to Tim (who she was sure would come to his senses soon enough) and not disappointing Batman and not to mention the giant cockroaches that might take over the world if she disrupted the time stream.

Batgirl's brow furrowed adorably as she inspected the knobs and buttons that adorned the time-ray.

Damn if this wasn't going to be harder than she thought it would.

She pretended to check Time Commander's vitals while really watching Batgirl out of the corner of her eye, memorizing the way she moved, scowled, mumbled to herself- everything. She didn't quite know how she was going to react to Barbara Gordon once she got home, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to treat her like she had before.

"I've got it," Batgirl said after a time, looking up and catching Steph's less-than-surreptitious stare.

Steph moved closer, intending to sweep Batgirl up in her arms, but then hung back, unsure.

"I know you can't say if we do or not, but I hope I see you again someday," Batgirl said with a little smile.

Steph just gave her what she hoped was an enigmatic grin, and darted forward to kiss her. "I really enjoyed this. Thank you," she mumbled into Batgirl's hair, telling herself that vigilantes didn't cry while setting things right.

They were Batgirl and Robin, after all. There was precedence. Hell, she might have just set the precedence. But there was something so very right about the way she felt - they felt- together that it was nearly impossible for her to let go.

They embraced for a few minutes longer, but then Batgirl stepped back. "We should go ahead, before he wakes up."

"Uh-huh," Steph said, likewise taking a step back. Batgirl had Robin-red lipstick smeared on her cheek, which made Steph smile widely.

Batgirl motioned for her to get closer to Time Commander, which Steph did, striking a pose like a model and asking, "This good?"

"Perfect shot," Batgirl replied, aiming the gun and fiddling with the largest knob one last time. She paused. "You're sure that you should leave the gun here?"

"Positive," Steph replied. She blew Batgirl a kiss and said, "Okay, beam me home, before I lose my nerve."

The last thing she saw before the brightness overtook her vision was Batgirl mouthing, "Good-bye."

* * *

"Ow," she said as she experienced her second time-space displacement of the last twenty-four hours, falling soundly on her ass on the same grimy rooftop she'd started the night on.

A few feet away, the Time Commander lay, still hog-tied with Batgirl's jumpline.

She secured Time Commander's arms and legs with zip strips, then carefully untied Batgirl's jumpline. It would only be appropriate to return it to its proper owner. She was winding it into a manageable loop when a faint buzzing in her ear interrupted.

"Have an educational trip?" Oracle said through her earpiece, voice barely filtered and sounding bemused.

Steph grinned, standing and looking towards the clocktower. "Oh, very. Though I wouldn't object to further lessons from a more advanced teacher."

"I'm sure that can be arranged."

Steph laughed. She remembered Batgirl's earnest words, accepting her as Robin. Maybe Oracle would do the same, now.

And maybe she'd get to wake up with a redhead again. She remembered thinking how very different Oracle and Batgirl were, and hoped that she'd been wrong. But even if she hadn't been...

She would still be happy getting to really know Barbara Gordon again.


End file.
